Anna Questerly

Friday, May 9, 2014

7 Simple Tricks to Save Time

It never fails, at every workshop, signing, or event at
which I speak, two questions are invariably asked: the first is; “Where do you
get your ideas?” Since I have an entire workshop devoted to that topic, I’ll
answer the second question here; which is, “Where do you find the time to write?”

It’s a great question. I work over 40 hours a week at
Dog-Eared Pages Bookstore. I love to create delicious homemade meals for us
almost every night. I teach writing workshops for kids and adults. I’m
frequently a guest speaker at schools and writing groups around Arizona. I
attend many events such as the Glendale Chocolate Affair, the Tucson Book
Festival, Arizona Dreamin’, Building the Dream, and Comicon. Like most folks, I
don’t have a maid to take care of housework and, although my children are
grown, I have two adorable Border Collies who love to play.

When do I find time to write? In the space between the
minutes. Every effective shortcut
adds minutes to my day. The more chores I can get out of the way, simply and
quickly, the more time I have for my writing.
It may not seem like much, but those precious seconds and minutes add
up.

I’d like to share with you my favorite seven time-savers.
Even if you don’t write, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a more pleasant way to
fill your time. Please know, these aren’t all my ideas, but things I’ve read or
heard about, tried and then, once I realized how well they worked, incorporated
into my life.

1.Bacon! I know it’s not the best source of protein,
but I do love bacon. However, I hate to cook it. Grease splatters are a pain to
clean, and I hate the greasy feel of raw bacon. When I buy a pound of bacon, I
immediately cut it into little pieces about ½ inch long by ¼ inch wide (about
three times the size of bacon bits). I freeze the pieces in small plastic
containers that stack neatly inside my freezer. You can pick up these little
containers at a dollar store, (10 for a buck). They’re about one inch square
and, when packed full, hold about three tablespoons of bacon.

Take one of the little squares out of the freezer, dump
the bacon into a small skillet, and fry over medium heat until it’s done the
way you like. You don’t even need to thaw it out, and it cooks much quicker
than strips with barely any splatter. Add to eggs, green beans, baked potatoes,
casseroles, grilled cheese, or whatever you like. Savings: less calories and
fat and all the taste of one of my favorite foods. Less waste from throwing
bacon away that I forgot to cook, less cleanup, makes meals more interesting
with not much hassle.

2.Another great use for those tiny containers is
to freeze pesto. (My friend Gordon gave me this idea.) I add pesto to almost
everything: grilled cheese sandwiches made with mozzarella, veggies, potatoes,
steak, burgers, shrimp, chicken and, of course, homemade pasta. However, it’s a
pain to make, and cleaning the oily food processor is something I don’t enjoy
doing either. When I make a batch, I make a large batch at once (My food
processor works better with the larger amount too.) A little pesto goes a long way, so these tiny plastic
squares work great for storage and, after an hour of thawing, this pesto tastes
as good as the fresh. It’s even the same
beautiful shade of green!

Tip: instead of buying the fresh herbs at the grocery store,
just buy an entire plant and replant it. (Usually costs about the same amount) After
a couple of weeks, you should have enough leaves for a large batch of pesto and,
by the time that’s all gone, your plant should be ready for another trim. Savings:
preparation, clean up time and money.

3. The Pampered
Chef square brownie pan. This pan has replaced my casserole dish and loaf pan,
becoming my go-to pan for the oven most of the time. Not only do we enjoy more
brownie edges, but I use it for meatloaf, egg casseroles, macaroni and cheese, muffins,
and I’m always finding new uses for it. I can make a dozen portion-sized meals
at once and freeze the rest for breakfast or lunches. The only drawback is
because of all of the crevices it does take longer to clean than a loaf pan or
regular brownie pan, but, being able to throw the leftovers into a freezer bag
and be done with it, makes up for it in my opinion.

4. Have you
noticed that your dishwasher doesn’t clean your dishes and glasses very well
lately? I found out a few years ago that
a new law was quietly passed, banning detergent makers from using phosphorous.
Once the current supply of detergent was sold out, sometime in 2012, people
began trying new detergents, adding rinse agents, even going so far as to
replace their dishwashers or installing water treatment systems. (It would have
been nice if they’d made an announcement or two about this and saved us all a
bit of money and aggravation.)

Anyway, I’d heard about this particular idea before, but
it wasn’t until my friend, Karen assured me it worked and my home wouldn’t reek
each time I ran the dishwasher that I tried it. Adding ½ cup of vinegar to your
dishwasher really helps and it’s much cheaper than using the expensive
detergents and pods. Have you seen the prices on some of that stuff!? Savings:
money and time spent rewashing dishes and polishing glasses.

5.Let’s move out of the kitchen now. Take a piece
of aluminum foil and crunch it up until it’s about the size of a golf ball.
Throw it in your dryer along with your clothes. Works better than dryer sheets
to completely eliminate static cling and it’s reusable! Savings: no longer
remembering to buy dryer sheets, very inexpensive, and I no longer have to fish
panties and socks from inside shirt sleeves every time I do the laundry. Plus,
we no longer shock each other or our doggies!

6.While we’re in the laundry room, don’t worry so
much about how to fold that damn fitted sheet. (Mom showed me many times, and I
still can’t do it!) Fold it as best you can, and slide it, along with the
folded flat sheet, into one of the pillowcases, add the rest of the pillow
cases and then fold the flap over and stack it in your linen closet. When
you’re ready to make the beds, grab the pillowcase and go. Everything is
already in there! Savings: time searching for matching pillowcases (it’s almost
like socks the way they disappear into the bottom of the closet or the corner
of the fitted sheet) and less frustration trying to get that fitted sheet
right. Plus, my linen closet almost looks organized.

7.Working in a bookstore and printing out
manuscript pages to edit, gives me more than my share of paper cuts. Thom read
about this trick somewhere and it really works well. Instead of trying to find
a tiny bandage, just rinse and swipe medicated Chapstick across the cut. It
seals the edges together and stops the bleeding instantly while numbing the
cut. Within a day, the cut is pretty much healed. (If it isn’t, make sure to
use a triple antibiotic ointment. You might have picked up a nasty germ. If
that doesn’t work, go see your doctor.)

Please feel free to comment on which of these you've tried.
Also, I’d love to know what tricks and tips you’ve picked up over the years to
make life easier. Happy writing and reading!